


hare in the moon

by emilywolf



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: M/M, Supernatural AU - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 11:37:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11356719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emilywolf/pseuds/emilywolf
Summary: Jeremy's as human as human gets. He's not jealous of his dragon descent best friend, no. Certainly not.There's something up with him and the moon, though.





	hare in the moon

**Author's Note:**

> reptilianraven has this bakunawa michael au that i love and im a sucker for celestial analogies,
> 
> [edit: i'd read their first cause 1, its Amazing, 2, this references stuff that happens in it!](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11319813)

 

_you are the moon_

 

They’re kids. It’s the hottest day of the year, and Michael’s got two pool passes, and they’re walking down the sidewalk in swim trunks and towels. Michael’s talking about frogs, that there’s some virus that’s infecting the waterways and making them die off and isn’t that messed up, he asks. Jeremy just nods. He could listen to Michael talk about anything, because he got so excited, and his passion rubbed off.

The pool was crowded. It _was_ the hottest day of the year, after all. Michael scuffed his shoes on the floors outside the changing rooms, and Jeremy brings him in, and tries to pretend that he’s more comfortable in a room of half naked strangers than he is for Michael’s sake. They separate into stalls to strip down in some semblance of privacy.

When he pulls off his shirt, he makes the mistake of looking in the mirror, and he can’t help but lean forward to more closely examine his face. It’s gross, really-- there’s at least three distinct pimples, and he can feel the oily sheen of sweat that’s only going to make his skin flare up more, and there’s still scabs where he's poked and prodded too much. He can’t help but start picking at a particularly noticeable zit on his lip, and he’s pinching and squeezing and nasty, there it goes, and there’s blood on his face and the open wound makes him blink for a minutes, and he’s disgusted. I already looked bad, he thinks to himself, and now I’m gonna be picking at my face for the next three hours. The panic, the disgust, the dislike for himself is filling his stomach, and his hands clench at the legs of his swim shorts.

He breathes in, breathes out, breathes in, and his breath catches and he can’t breathe and everything’s too much, and he needs to chill out, he needs to distract himself, and he’s staring at a showerhead, and realizing it’s leaking.

The water drips, drips, drips and Jeremy focuses in on that. His breathing slows to match the steady pace of drops hitting the ground. When his reflection is too much he watches the tiny splashes of water on tile and lets that ground himself as he steps out of his shoes and shoves them into the cinch bag with his towel and his sunscreen. When he gets up the courage to leave the stall and show off his gross, spotty, pale body, Michael’s waiting in the hall for him.

Fuckin’ finally, he says, his voice cracking on the swear. They’re in middle school and haven’t quite gotten the hang of swearing yet, but damn if they’re not going to try. Jeremy just laughs, letting Michael continue on his frog spiel, feeling relieved that he didn’t even comment on the obvious injury on his face.

As they leave the shower room, the shower stops dripping, ripples stilling.

_you are the moon_

 

It’s a bad day for both of them. Michael’s been sick for the past few days, and Jeremy’s been with him so he’s getting sick too, and inevitably they’re laying in a pile of blankets together, heads stuffy and surrounded by used tissues.

Michael’s bemoaning his late shift, claiming that dragons just don’t get sick, their body temperature is wrong for human bacteria and viruses, and that he wishes it’d just happen already. Jeremy comforts him the best he can, tries to ignore the jealousy creeping up in his throat. His best friend was a dragon. His best friend was descended from a dragon that devoured the moon, he would never get sick, hell, he’d probably have some magical dragon talent that would make Jeremy obsolete or a burden. After all, Jeremy was only human.

He tries to ignore the bile in his throat. Michael notices, because he’s attuned to Jeremy’s silences, and asks if he needs water or something. Jeremy just nods because he doesn’t trust his voice to not betray him, and wraps a blanket around himself as he shakily stands. He asks Michael if he wants anything, and Michael shakes his head before clutching his face and groaning. Jeremy stumbles out, into the hallway, down the half flight of stairs, into the kitchen.

The clink of glass on glass rattles his ears and he shuts his eyes to stop the world from ringing. He turns the tap, eyes still closed, letting it fill up. A moment passes and he shuts it off, and is amazed to find it didn’t overflow. Jeremy just stands in front of the sink and stares into the glass. There’s air bubbles swirling, swirling, and he’s watching it intently, feeling like there's a pattern there that he could understand if he just watched closer. He blinks. He’s zoning out, he realizes, and he’d rather zone out while in a blanket pile than while standing upright. He chugs the water. It soothes his gross feeling throat on the way down, and might even have taken the edge off his headache.

The clank of the glass hitting the counter only throws him off for a second, and then hes stumbling back up the stairs, into Michael’s room, and collapses on top of him. Michael laughs, and shoves at him halfheartedly. Jeremy rolls off, but flings an arm over him to hear the indignant sputtering that Michael is over exaggerating. It’s comfortable. It’s nice. It feels right, to be next to him, and Jeremy has a vague inkling of a gay panic but squashes it down because his head is too full to deal with feelings right now.

When Jeremy wakes up, he’s feeling much better. Michael’s still just a human shaped lump of sick, so Jeremy figures he ought to make a frozen pizza or something. By the time Michael’s coming down to the couch, swathed in a blanket, Jeremy feels fine.

It’s not fair that you got sick after me and better before me, Michael moans, and Jeremy smacks at him. You were the one who got me sick, he says. It’s my personal revenge.

_you are the moon_

 

It’s Junior prom. Jeremy goes with his rag tag squad of friends, trying to ignore the fact that Jake and Chloe looked like demigods (and that wasn’t an exaggeration, there was a child of Hermes in Jeremy’s fourth period and they had that same easy confidence and oozing beauty), while he awkward and gangly in one of his dad’s old suits. Michael is with him, and is dressed even worse than him, just wearing a blazer over a pair of black skinny jeans and a white tee shirt. He has the advantage of wings, though.

They’re black with white lines, and it’s quite the look. Jeremy tries to ignore the mass amount of compliments he gets, tries to distract himself by heading to the drink station, tries to keep his hands from sweating too much when he ladles himself a cup of punch. It’s watery, and there’s a faint hint of booze like someone dumped a single hard lemonade into the five gallon cooler, but sipping at it helps ground himself, calm himself down.

Christine sways up in her poofy Renaissance gown. Hey, Jeremy, she says, hooking her arm with his. You wandered off. Jeremy shrugs. Christine gives him a look and Jeremy knows she’s going to ask him some emotional question he doesn’t want to answer so he’s looking desperately for an out. A flash of motion in the corner, and he finds Michael giving him a wave and beckoning him back over. Jeremy flashes Christine an apologetic smile, and excuses himself.

You looked panicked, Michael says, and Jeremy just thunks his head onto Michael’s shoulder. It’s cool on his sweaty forehead. Michael wraps a wing around him soothingly, and it blocks out the flashing lights and the loud noise and is as cold as Michael’s shoulder. It feels like he’s been hidden, eclipsed, and the layer of scales and flesh that’s enveloping him gives him a moment of much needed peace.

It’s over in a moment, as Rich yells something about backpack lovers, and Michael and Jeremy perk up to find Rich and Jake at a nearby table. They slide into the seats opposite, and Jeremy lets the inane conversation wash over him. Jake is talking about the competition for Mathletes, and Rich is calling him a nerd and laughing, and Michael is reminding Rich that they marathoned Ouran Host Club the night before, and Jeremy is laughing, and it’s a nice time.

The DJ calls out something. It’s unintelligible over the mass of voices, but Rich understands it, and he’s suddenly dragging Jeremy onto the dance floor. There’s some thumping bassy song playing, and Rich is bobbing and jerking wildly in some sort of dance, and Jeremy laughs as he bounces to the beat.

Jeremy isn’t a dancer, but Brooke comes up behind him and puts her hands on his shoulders and giggles a dance invitation into his ear. He grins, and lets Brooke drag him over to where she and Chloe and Jenna are dancing, and tries to mimic it. They’re bouncing up and down, hands waving in the air, hair flying everywhere, and Jeremy’s sure he looks like an idiot doing it but he’s an idiot who’s having fun.

Jake and Rich join them, who are trying and failing to make the loose wavy dancing look manly. Jeremy is laughing, and smiling, and he spots Michael with bunched wings talking to Christine, and waves both of them over. Michael’s wings perk up, and Christine giggles and has stars blink in and out of view around her, and they’re making their way over. Christine gives Michael a nudge with her elbow, and Michael’s wings scrunch up the way that they do when he’s embarrassed, and he’s flushing and stammering out a not right now. Christine rolls her eyes, and does some swirly gestures with a flourish of her sleeve, and the music scratches into a slower song. There’s murmurs of confusion (and an upset Rich shout), but the school body collectively shifts from rave to slow dance. Jeremy’s confused for just a second before Michael’s holding out a hand to him.

Let’s dance, he laughs, and he’s nervous because his wings are pressed low and tight against his back. Michael realizes Jeremy’s looking at his wings, and he visibly breathes in, breathes out, relaxes his wings. Let’s dance, he asks, and it’s almost a question and nearly a statement. Jeremy gives him a smile and takes his hand.

It’s awkward at first. Jeremy is trying to lead, Michael is trying to figure out what the steps are to a slow dance, and the wings and tail are throwing off Jeremy’s movements. They giggle at their ineptitude, settle for Jeremy’s arms over Michael’s shoulders and wings and Michael holding Jeremy’s waist. There’s a friendly space between them. Jenna hipchecks Michael, though, and he ends up falling, and Jeremy is holding Michael in makeshift dip. There’s awws from the squad, before Jeremy is unable to hold up the weight and they fall into a pile. Then there's laughing, but it's friendly, and Jeremy is glad he’s here.

Prom gets to be too much soon after. Jake’s legs are getting tired, and Michael’s getting quiet, so they walk as a group to Jenna’s minivan and pile in. There's a cooler in the trunk, and a short drive away there’s an empty field. Christine is carrying out the cooler to the middle of the field, and Chloe’s following with a blanket, and Rich is pushing Jake’s wheelchair through the grass. Jeremy lets Brooke and Jenna go ahead without him. He leans on the car next to Michael, sharing a half gone joint. I don’t wanna get high, Michael tells him, just take off the edge. It’s gone in a few hits, and they walk to to where the rest of the group is waiting.

Christine is summoning little glowing birds and flying them in circles around the group, Jenna’s gasping and going _really_ at an empty space, and Rich is showing a very impressed Jake his wolfish teeth. Chloe and Brooke are sharing a wine cooler, laughing and talking quietly. It’s nice. There’s a sense of intimacy that comes from hanging out with your closest friends in a starlit field.

Michael fwomps to the ground, and drags down Jeremy next to him. Jeremy’s laying on his wing, which he worries might be uncomfortable, but Michael gives him a gentle smile and pulls him closer, folding a wing over him like a blanket.

The night seems to darken. Where the nearly full moon had been beaming down before there was only the faint glow of Christine’s summons. Jeremy looks up into the sky, face going white when he sees the moon is obscured in a shadow. There’s gasps, and Jenna offhandedly says she didn’t realize there was going to be an eclipse tonight. The group stares skyward, until the teens realize it’s almost two in the morning and they’re exhausted.

Shortly after they get up and gather their trash and blanket and the cooler, the moon shines bright again. Michael’s still laying on the ground, though. His eyes are yellow in the faint light, and he remains on the ground even when Jenna says she’s leaving, _now._ Jeremy waves her off, tells her that they live nearby and can walk, have a nice night. Jenna gives him a look but doesn’t pry, instead turning to the van.

Jeremy stands and watches as the rest of the group piles into the van, and it drives off. He waits until the taillights are hard to see before turning back to Michael. He’s sitting, now, but his eyes are still fixed on the moon.

Is there anything I can do to help, Jeremy asks. Michael keeps staring. Jeremy sits in front of him, putting a hand on Michael’s knee. He jumps, but looks down to Jeremy. He looks almost in awe.

You really are, he whispers. I thought I was making it up be you really are. Jeremy asks what he’s talking about. Michael just blinks, and his eyes are back to the normal brown. He looks a little dazed. What was I talking about, he asks, and Jeremy just shrugs. It was something moon related, he says, and Michael nods. Stands up. Dusts off his jeans. He holds out a hand, pulls Jeremy up, and holds his hand all the way home.

_you are the moon_

 

It’s the coldest day of the winter. Michael and Jeremy are bundled in puffy jackets, and there’s banter regarding Michael’s repurposing of a blanket to use as a wing covering, and comfortable laughter.

They’re walking to Jeremy’s house. He’s promised hot chocolate, a blanket fort, and a movie marathon, and Michael’s never been one to refuse.

It’s quiet when they walk in. Jeremy checks to see if his dad is home, finds his car gone, assumes he’s gone to work. It doesn’t change anything, except that they can use the couch cushions to buff up their blanket fort. Michael declares himself fabric architect, and tells Jeremy that he’ll need to be paid in hot chocolate. Jeremy rolls his eyes and heads to the kitchen as Michael tries to use his wings to carry all the blankets up in one trip.

He makes actual hot chocolate. Gets out a pot, adds milk, cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla. It takes longer than premixed, so Michael can fully assemble the fort before Jeremy comes in with the distraction of hot chocolate. He stirs mindlessly. He’s thinking about prom, thinking about Michael’s shift, thinking about the spring musical, until Michael’s hand is on his shoulder and Jeremy jumps. He flails out an elbow, knocking over the pot, and Jeremy’s head does a quicktime event as he tries to grab at the pot, tries to keep it from spilling all over Michael, and it tips over and starts its descent.

There’s a clatter. Jeremy waits for the splash of liquid and Michael’s pained hiss, and waits, and he opens up one eye a little to see why Michael isn’t swearing.

The hot chocolate is suspended in the air.

Jeremy opens both his eyes in surprise, and the bubble of liquid ripples as if it’s going to fall, and Jeremy quickly tries to steady it. Stares at it. Picks up the pot, holds it under the bubble, and lets out a shuddering breath as it splashes into the pot.

Michael is staring. What the _fuck_ , he says, and Jeremy just realizes that he waterbended the shit out of some hot chocolate. What the fuck, Jeremy repeats. Theres a beat where the only sound is the gentle flicker of the gas range, before Michael is beaming and shouting. This is amazing, he’s yelling, you’re actually them! Jeremy opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again to ask who them is.

The moon, Jeremy, he says. You’re the moon.

Jeremy is silent. Then he’s laughing. No, he says, I’m just a human, I’m not the moon. The moon is a huge rock.

You are the moon, Michael repeats, and his eyes are steely and golden. You are the moon.

_you are the moon_

 

When the world was new, every animal got along. Foxes were friends of rabbits, hawks roosted with sparrows, and they all ate the grass and berries which grew plentiful in the fertile soil. All were loved by one another, and there was no strife.

The Prince of Rabbits loved many wives, who mothered many children, of whom the Prince was the father of all. The many children ate much of the grass, then parented more children, who ate more grass, until the grass grew scarce.

The scarcity lead to famine. The rabbits grew thin and sickly and searched farther to gather enough food to survive, and the other animals grew enraged that the rabbits were stealing away food they needed for their children.

One day, a council was called between the Princes of all the animals to decide what would be done about the threat of starvation.

The Prince of Foxes suggested food be rationed out. We all eat the same grass, he said, and we should all get the same amount.

The Prince of Deer refused. Your family may be able to grow fat off a clearing of grass, she said, but mine will surely starve.

The Prince of Hawks, the keenest of them all, thought long and hard. To keep the grass plentiful, they said, we must have limits. Many of us father few children, and they take our place when we rot. The Prince of Rabbits has fathered many children, who father many children, and have many more children than needed to replace their forefathers.

The rabbits expand, they said, and steal from our few children. The rabbits, they said, must amend for the starvation they cause.The Prince of Hawks keened, and declared that the Prince of Rabbits must allow for his children to take the place of the grass they had stolen.

The Prince of Rabbits cried out, and begged for a vote. Surely, he said, you will not eat us? Is it our fault we love so freely, and so often?

If you win the vote, the Prince of Hawks decided, your children will be pardoned. But, they said, if you lose, you must find a way to feed the other children and thin your own.

The animals sat in a circle. All those who vote with the Rabbits, said the Prince of Hawks, say aye.

The Prince of Deer, the Prince of Rabbits, and the Prince of Sparrows called aye.

All those who vote against the Rabbits, said the Prince of Hawks, say aye.

The Prince of Foxes, the Prince of Lynx, the Prince of Hawks, and the Prince of Snakes called aye.

And the Prince of Rabbits cried out in despair, and flung himself before the Court. Please, he cried, take me instead of my children!

The animals, as hungry as they were, took sympathy. The Prince of Deer approached to comfort him, and said, there is not a one of us who would not sacrifice for who we love. She turned to the court, and spoke thus.

The Prince has wronged us, and all of our children face the price. But to lead the rabbit children to slaughter would help none.

The Prince of Lynx agreed. We ought to grant the children of the rabbit a chance. We should grant them the shroud of the darkness, where they may hide and protect themselves from those who would kill them.

Aye, called the Prince of Hawks. For if they must hide in the dark, they shan’t be able to expand outside their range, and their children’s children will not suffer for their hunger.

The Prince of Foxes cried out. But this is the Prince of Rabbit’s fault! If he goes unpunished, this shall happen again!

The Court pondered for a moment, before the Prince of Rabbits spoke.

I would willing imprison myself for the sake of my children. He gestured towards the sky. If my children are to live in the dark, let me be able to light their way.

The Court felt for him, and granted him this blessing.

The Prince of Rabbits cried out in relief. I shall ensure my children prosper, he said, and for your kindness, I will illuminate yours as well. With one last thanks, the Prince of Rabbits flung himself into the sky. He landed on the moon, where he still watches over his children’s children today.

_you are the moon_

 

Jeremy stares at the moon, Michael by his side. Jeremy points out the Prince, is amazed he hadn’t noticed before. Michael gives him a comforting pat, tells him that he didn’t feel the pull of the moon and the sea until his shift.

When will my shift be, Jeremy asks. Michael shrugs, wings stretching. You’ll know when it happens.

Jeremy stares up at the moon. Stares at the rabbit shaped dark spot. He feels the moon’s light, shining down, like the pride of a great ancestor on his skin. He stares at the moon, and swears that he sees the Prince smile.

_i am the moon_

 

**Author's Note:**

> I LOVE THIS AU
> 
> anyway jeremy is a Child of the Rabbit, which is a fictional supernatural thing by urs truly. the rabbit in the moon is a real legend tho!!! its cropped up in a few cultures but most literature of it is from native american and chinese legend
> 
> the fable here is Original content, based off the hare in the moon mythos but also the watership down's el-ahrairah/ frith mythos!! 
> 
> jeremy's powers insofar as being a child of the prince is vague control of water (most effective when its Emotional), self centered healing (he can heal himself but not other people), and, uh. a rabbit's fertility if you get my drift. 
> 
> michael absolutely is a Menace because jeremy is literally a furry. jeremy tries to deflect like "youre half dragon" but michael Is Adamant
> 
> I SAID I WAS GONNA, DO UPDATES ON MY OTHER PIECES, BUT I WOKE UP AT TWO IN THE MORNING AND HAVE BEEN WRITING THIS SINCE THEN, im what the kids call... A Procrastinator
> 
> come say hi!! im @creeperinthebathroom on tumblr!


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